“What?” She shook her head and took another bite of the pie.
“Talking about the fire?” he asked, deciding to be open with her. After all, if he wanted to get answers from her, he couldn’t continue to hide the subject.
“No.” She shook her head. “Not really. It’s just… I’ve been gone for so long and everything is grown up around here again.” She gazed past the fire into the darkness of his yard.
“It’s taken ten years. When I first purchased this place, there wasn’t a tree in sight. The brook”—he motioned to where the stream ran through his yard— “was nothing but ash and sludge. Whenever it rained, it flooded the backyard. I replanted everything.”
“You did a great job. Earlier, in the sunlight, it looked wonderful.” She set her empty plate aside. He finished his and did the same.
“Why come back to Cannon Falls?” he asked suddenly.
She looked at him and sighed. “I thought I could make a difference. Build up the business to its former glory. To what it had been when my parents had started it.”
“Is that all?” he asked.
She tilted her head and thought about it. “I found out that my grandmother had been sending money to my uncle the past few years.” She set her coffee mug down and folded her hands together. “My father had left him in charge until I decided to take over. If he was borrowing money from my grandmother, that meant the resort was in trouble.”
“You didn’t know?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I didn’t know anything that had gone on in town after…” She took another deep breath. “My grandmother decided to keep me in the dark. She thought it would be best for me.”
He wanted to ask more about why her grandmother would want to protect her but decided it was far too soon. He didn’t want to spook her away just yet.
“What about you?” She turned slightly. “You left college to become fire marshal?”
“I did.” He nodded. “After seeing what the fire had done to the families around here, to the livelihoods of everyone, I couldn’t go back to school and hide. Besides, I had to help my mother rebuild. To be here when Reggie couldn’t be.”
“She decided to stay.” It wasn’t a question really.
“This is the only place she’s ever lived. She loves it here. Her house is in the same spot, almost the same floorplan, with a few upgrades.” He smiled. “My mother had always wanted more storage and a fireplace.” He shook his head.
“Still, I know what it’s like to lose everything,” she said softly. He glanced over at her and nodded.
“It was hard on her, but things were easily replaced.”
“Reggie,” she said under her breath. “My parents.” She shook her head and her eyes scanned the darkness beyond the fire.
“Family can never be replaced,” he agreed.
“My counselor would agree,” she said with a sigh.
He leaned forward a little. “Counselor?”
Her eyes snapped to him and then she stood up and walked to stand by the fire. She reached her hands out for the warmth.
“Yes, my gran thought it would help me cope with the loss.”
Standing, he moved next to her. There hadn’t been any time for him or his mother to seek counseling after Reggie’s loss. There’d been too much work to do. Sean and his grandmother had been there. They’d had love and family, which had helped heal them.
Also, in the months after his family had lost everything, he’d worked through his own anger and pain by rebuilding and helping others to rebuild. There had been days he’d gone without eating, with little sleep, just to keep his mind focused away from the fact that Reggie wouldn’t be there to help out. Wouldn’t be there to celebrate the birthdays, the holidays.
He’d played over just how he would deal with Raven Brooks once he finally got a moment alone with her. He’d never, in all the past years, thought about what Raven had gone through or the pain that she’d dealt with herself. The bitterness he’d felt for her had bubbled and boiled until it had built up to almost a full hate. But when he’d overheard her and her uncle fighting and had believed the man had hurt her, the first thing through his mind had been to defend her.
He wasn’t so arrogant of a man to think that he couldn’t change his mind.
She threw him completely off balance and that only made him more curious about her. Not only had he instantly been attracted to her, but he’d also actually felt guilty for believing the rumors that she could have purposely cause so much pain to others.
Even though she’d only been back in Cannon Falls for a week, he felt like he could see through her protective walls enough to tell what kind of person she was.
From the sounds of things, she wasn’t planning on leaving town. So he guessed that he had plenty of time to get the answers he wanted.
Her eyes turned to the fire and her shoulders sagged slightly.
“Your grandmother told me how difficult it was on the people around here to recover. How many just packed up, took their insurance money, and left, while others like you and your family rebuilt. I wish I could have stuck around to help, but…” She shook her head slightly.
“Everyone blamed you,” he jumped in, not sure why he wanted to see her reaction. What would she do? Get angry? Cry? Whatever her response, he figured it would give him a little more insight into who Raven Brooks was.
As he watched, she transformed herself. Her shoulders straightened and she stood up a little taller.
“Yes, I supposed some still do,” she said quietly. “A lot of people in town have shown me just how they feel since I’ve returned. Some would rather let their families and businesses go bankrupt than to associate with me. I’m having to ship materials from Redding since Phil down at the hardware store won’t supply my contractor with anything now that he’s found out who he is working for.” She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself. “I’ve had to pay David Green extra for the trouble just so I wouldn’t lose him.”
“I could have a talk…” he started, but when her eyes flew open and she gave him a hard look, he sighed. “If you need any help there…”
“Thanks,” she said after a moment. “But I’ve handled it.”
“Independent, aren’t you,” he said with a smile, earning one in return from her. “People will get used to you being around. Once they see the good that you’re doing. How what you’re doing will benefit them and theirs. Something tells me that this next season, we’re going to see a huge influx of visitors spending their money in Cannon Creek. The blame game can grow old.” He knew that himself. After the first few years, the red-hazed anger he’d felt had dulled.
“My counselor claims that in order to see other’s pain, you have to work through your own first. And you have to realize that the loss was out of your control,” she said with a sigh.
“Was it?” he asked, watching her carefully, waiting for the anger.
Instead, she turned to him, and gave him a weak smile. “Thank you for dinner,” she said suddenly and moved to walk past him.
“Hang on.” He took her by the shoulders. Seeing the sorrow in her eyes almost undid him. Whatever he’d believed of her in the past, the woman standing in front of him could have no more caused so much pain as he could have. At least not on purpose. So, either she was an amazing actress, or he was totally off base about her. “I didn’t mean to…” He shook his head. “There are so many questions I have. Not just about what happened, but about the time before. About Reggie. I’d left two years before... I wasn’t around...”